Through the eyes and mind of Luke Garnet

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As a future advertiser/marketer I have to reflect upon what has occurred in the past before looking into the future. The industry has been riddled with stereotypes and clichés, ranging from being lazy to evil, but it is our job as the future of marketing to change that thought process. We need to ensure that marketing isn’t being seen as trying to get the most from a random product rather trying to help someone accomplish what they needed, whether it’d be from networking with the right company or to finding that one product that truly has made their lives easier.

There is an old expression that goes, “you reap what you sow”. This means everything that you do has its repercussions; there is no escaping your actions. In a way marketing had developed the stigma that it was a greedy industry, which isn’t false by any means. There are companies who try to squeeze every cent out of the consumer, but those shady corporations shouldn’t be the standard thought. That is why it is up to us, the future, to create the change needed. Not only for ourselves, and the careers we will achieve, but for everything that it represents. Marketing has such an astronomical influence on everything; the way people dress, the way they talk, the way that they socialize, marketing has an influence on it all. That is why it is up to us to create the change that we need to see, the change that we need to be.

The NHL Playoffs are set and ready to begin. The weather is starting to get warmer, the sun is beginning to shine, and the grass is becoming greener by the second, yet there is still no other thing I’d rather be doing than sitting inside watching the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The playoffs came down to the final day of the season to officially be set. Only being separated by 16 points, this is the most narrow gap between playoff teams in the Leagues modern history. There were many surprising stories that came to the surface, as well as heart break for many teams.

A lot of match-ups that are happening in the first round are certainly ones to keep an eye on. A lot of rivalries that have already been created, and ones that are going to be born. Between a Calgary-Vancouver matchup, and Montreal-Ottawa, Canadian fans have much to cheer about. Having 5 of the 7 Canadian teams in the playoffs can only be seen as a good thing for the league, as well as the Canadian dollar. It will be interesting to see how Winnipeg does in its first ever opportunity at the big dance. Many questions will begin to be answered starting April 15th.

There are many surprises to get into before discussing the breakdown of match-ups, many teams that were expected to do more, that just didn’t make the cut. The Los Angeles Kings, San Jose Sharks, Dallas Stars, Colorado Avalanche, Boston Bruins, and Columbus Blue Jackets were all major surprises in not making it to the 2nd season. The season seemed to have just gotten away from teams like the Bruins, Kings, and Sharks, while the Stars and Avalanche were pre-season favorites to at least contend for the playoffs, yet all season were watching from the outside.

Montreal-Ottawa:

It will certainly interesting to watch these two teams face each other in the first round. The Canadiens are riding with the best goalie in the NHL right now in Carey Price, who holds the top spot statistically in wins, goals allowed average, and save percentage(44-16-6, .933%, 1.96), while the Senators have possibly the hottest goalie in Andrew Hammond, who has an astounding 20-1-2 record (As well as a .941%, and 1.79 GAA). The Senators snuck into the playoffs late into the season, as of February 10th, they were 14 points out of the wildcard, and a spot behind the Toronto Maple Leafs. Both teams match up well in the sense that they both play a speed and skill game, though will be interesting to see if Ottawa’s defenseman will be able to keep up with the transition game of the Habs forwards especially Galchenyuk, Pacioretty, and Plecanek. From the Senators besides Hammond, Bobby Ryan, and Erik Karlsson will be the guys to watch for, Karlsson who is so smooth with the puck can create magic from the point in the offensive zone, and Bobby Ryan can prove to the Canadian Tire Centre why they traded such a large package to obtain him. The question will really come down to, can Hammond keep up his success?

Tampa Bay-Detroit:

Now this is probably going to be THE first round matchup to watch for in the Eastern Conference. Both of these teams could’ve ended up as the #1 seed in their division had a few bounces gone their way. One of the best franchises ever in Detroit, who is an absolute playoff machine, making it their 24th consecutive season in the big dance, they are always a team to look out for year in and year out. Henrik Zetterberg, Tomas Tatar, Gustav Nyquist are all guys who should be looked upon as game breakers, and of course Pavel Datsyuk as well who even as he is beginning to age has still shown that he is a top guy in the league. From the Tampa Bay Lightning side of things, Steven Stamkos should always be looked upon as THE guy for the Lightning, arguably the best player in the NHL year in and year out by always being one of the fasted and most skilled guys out on the sheet. Now aside from Stamkos, Tampa has some young guys who have just flown under the radar this season. Tyler Johnson (72 points), Nikita Kucherov (64 points), and Andrej Palat (63 points) who can really be a make it or break it type series for the Bolts. Johnson, Kucherov, and Palat while unexperienced in playing hockey from April-June are important to Tampa Bay’s success, just as much as Stamoks. The question here would have to be, will Tampa Bay’s young legs show up for the playoffs?

New York(R)-Pittsburgh

The Pittsburgh Penguins have been one of the worst teams in the NHL for the past 40 games or so, having a record below .500, while the New York Rangers have been the exact opposite. This is going to be a quick series, between the Rangers depth, speed, and skill, and the Penguins slow defense, as well as Marc-Andre Fleury’s inevitable playoff woe’s, I’d expect the New York Rangers to jump on the Penguins early. Watch out for Chris Kreider and Derek Stepan from the Rangers side of the puck, as Kreider usually has a tendency of being a Penguin killer, while the same can be said from Stepan. From the Penguins side it is mostly up to Sidney Crosby, and an injured Evgeni Malkin, who is still uncertain of his back injury which had been recently re-aggravated. Will Marc Andre Fleury actually show up?

New York(I)-Washington

Alexander Ovechkin and the Capitals against John Tavares and the New York Islanders. Honestly this is a dream matchup for the league, as they will have the top goal scorer in Alexander Ovechkin (53 goals) against the top second leading point scorer (Thanks to Jamie Benn and his 4 point night against Nashville), in John Tavares (86 points). Both are premier players, they are faces of their respected franchises, as well as the league. The Islanders were holding onto the top spot in the Eastern Conference for quite a while, and then coughed it up after the heart breaking 6-5 loss to the New York Rangers in their final matchup at the Coliseum. The Islanders have emerged as a serious threat within the Eastern Conference, with skilled forwards, and having a solid backstop in Jaroslav Halak. While the Capitals know very much about Jaro Halak, they will need to see if their players have the capability of showing up for the whole 200 feet of the ice. Nicklas Backstrom, Alex Ovechkin, and John Carlson will definitely be the guys to look out for, all with much more playoff experiences than the guys in orange and blue, John Carlson especially will be looked upon to be a difference maker. Can Tavares lift the Islanders past Ovechkin and Backstrom?

St. Louis-Minnesota:

The St.Louis Blues have always been that team that has looked as if it will win the Stanley Cup almost with ease every year, and then lose in the first or second round every time. They are the modern day San Jose Sharks, almost fitting that they are replacing them now that the Sharks have missed the playoffs. The Minnesota Wild mostly known for their defensive versatility led by Ryan Suter, and their consistent forecheck. The main thing to watch for here is how the Wild will matchup to the Blues skillful wings. Having TJ Oshie, Vladimir Tarasenko, Jaden Schwartz, and Alexander Steen all in the top 6 is going to cause lots of problems for the Wild’s centre’s. Will Devan Dubnyk be able to recreate his outstanding regular season statistics in the playoffs?

Nashville-Chicago

This is definitely the premier match-up of the whole first round of the playoffs. While the Tampa Bay Detroit series is going to be a great one to look out for. This is definitely the series you want to have your DVR ready for. The Nashville Predators are among the NHL’s elite from this past season, and the Chicago Blackhawks have been labeled as the NHL Elite due to their past success. The big thing is the injury to Patrick Kane. The Blackhawks are certainly going to miss having Kane in their lineup, guys like Teuvo Teravainen, and Kris Versteeg are going to need to step up their game to plug that hole. This series will come down to the young guys in Filip Forsberg, Seth Jones, Roman Josi for the Predators, as well as Teravainen, and Brandon Saad from Chicago. The Predators have some experienced players on their roster in Shea Weber (Olympic Gold-Canada), and Mike Fisher(Stanley Cup Final loss in 2006), though that doesn’t exactly come close to the list of Stanley Cup Champions that the Chicago Blackhawks can boast on their roster. Will missing Kane be the nail in the Blackhawks season?

Anaheim-Winnipeg

This is going to be a nasty hard hitting series. Whether it goes 4 games or 7 there will be plenty of injuries handed out on both rosters. Having Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, and Ryan Getzlaf all in the same top 6 is going to cause major problems for anyone, all three are arguably the most talented big men in the game, along with the likes of Rick Nash, and Jamie Benn. The Winnipeg Jets do have a good answer for those three in Dustin Byfuglien, the largest player in the NHL at the weight of 270 lbs, he is no stranger to throwing his weight around, as he is recently getting off of a four game suspension for a cross check to New York Rangers forward JT Miller’s neck. While this is Winnipeg’s first trip to the big dance, to think that they are going to surprise and beat the Anaheim Ducks will be nothing short of a miracle. The Ducks have consistently been a top 3 team in the NHL all season, while the Jets squeaked in while having Ondrej Pavalec as their main line of defense. I just don’t realistically see how the Jets can keep up with the high tempo offense that the Anaheim Ducks own. Will Byfuglien be able to stop the scorers of Anaheim?

Vancouver-Calgary

Johnny Hockey faces off against the Johnny Canuck, a Western Canadian classic. The Calgary Flames a remarkable story, of being one of the worst teams in the league last season, to cementing their playoff birth by beating the Stanley Cup Champs of last season. The Calgary Flames are very reminiscent of the Colorado Avalanche last season, very young, and very inexperienced. They could surprise in the first round and make a bit of a run, but they won’t really be anyones pick to make it to even the third round in all honesty. Having such a young team, added to the fact that Mark Giordano has suffered a season ending injury is a big enough factor in the prediction process. Will the youth of Calgary be able to defeat the experience of the Canucks?

The National Hockey League has announced that the NHL Playoffs will begin being aired on the USA Network this year as an overflow channel to NBC, CNBC, and NBCSN. The potential is very large for not only the NHL, but for the USA network as well. From an observer’s point of view the USA Network had always been to me just the channel where movies that hit rock bottom in the box office would go to directly without even a notice of a DVD release, or the Adam Sandler channel. In recent years though, they have built themselves up, by having great shows such as Suits, and Psych on their channel. I have also heard very good things of Burn Notice. USA Network can see a change in philosophy such as TNT did with the NBA Playoffs. Once a channel for old western’s now a powerhouse in NBA viewership.

Again any added exposure for the NHL is only a good thing. For a bit of history, the USA Network had done NHL games in years past, most notably the 1980’s, as well as showing past Olympic hockey games, which would make sense given the name of the network. Also good to have a network that is stil on basic cable where you can get games that you probably wouldn’t of thought to of have the capability of watching.

Quite possibly the coolest sports story has happened today with the Florida Panthers, who are currently two points out of a playoff spot, and have had the displeasure of seeing both Roberto Luongo, and Al Montoya reaching the injury reserve in the same night, have decided on holding an amateur tryout for a goaltender position. While this isn’t exactly like the movie Invincible, the Florida Panthers are willing to give the winner a chance at practicing with the NHL squad, as well as season tickets to remaining games, as well as a signed jersey from the whole team, and will be featured on Fox Sports Florida intermission report. If anything this is a great opportunity for not only the fans, but for the Panthers in expanding the growth of the game. This is ingenius. The Panthers have given themselves the opportunity to show the fans that they are really trying to show them that they are noticing the effect they are holding to games by giving back. While in a tough spot that they currently are in, the Florida Panthers are making light of an awful situation by giving the Panthers an opportunity to give back to the fan base. For any Panthers fan this is an awesome opportunity just to be able to get onto the ice level, and see what actually occurs behind the scenes within their NHL franchise, as well as what is to come for the NHL team.

If you click on the link below the image, Deputy Commissioner of the NHL, Bill Daly goes over the possibilites of the NHL expanding into the cities of Las Vegas, Seattle, and the potential of having another team in Southern Ontario. The NHL has been in talks of adding a team from Las Vegas, Seattle, Kansas City, Quebec City (again), as well as a team from Hamilton/Greater Toronto Area, these rumors have been swirling around for many years, beginning with the potential risk of the Coyotes shipping themselves out of the Phoenix area years ago. Since then, the Coyotes have remained in Arizona, while the Atlanta Thrashers ended up moving to Winnipeg, recreating the Jets.

Las Vegas is probably the closest to becoming an NHL franchise, their have already been rumors of Floyd Mayweather Jr and Mark Cuban putting down money for season tickets. I definitely see the potential with Vegas getting a franchise, its a money making city, but the thing is it is a front runners town. How are they going to do when they’re supposed to be supporting a team that has been on an 8 game losing streak? Or misses the playoffs four years in a row? Will they actually be able to strive off of the novelty of hockey in vegas alone or will it need to be a successful franchise in order to well…succeed. The money that can be brought in from having a team in Las Vegas has gigantic potential. The Board of Governors are just salivating at the idea of the expansion fees. Las Vegas has great potential, it is just a matter of, will the ship sink or float?

Seattle is a city that has another great potential for the NHL, a city that is always growing, and is in a marquee spot of being in the Northwest of the United States. With having a great success with the Seattle Seahawks, the NHL can learn from the NFL, in that a town such as Seattle can be represented with a strong following that comes with great success. The only matter is, does Seattle really want an NHL franchise? That is the main issue that seem to be coming across the possibility of having an NHL franchise in Seattle, otherwise it would’ve already happened. Seattle would be great for the league in growing the popularity of the sport, as it is in a section of the United States that is quite heavily populated, as well as lacking a major professional hockey team, having the closest in location being the Vancouver Canucks.

Having another team in Southern Ontario would see great for profit in the NHL, but is missing the big criteria that seems to be the NHL’s main thought process for expansion, growth of the sport. Though that should not come as a surprise as Gary Bettman does have a weird love-hate relationship with the country of Canada. Having only 7 NHL franchises in the country currently, one would believe that there would be more the nations number one sport. Seeing as though just a few years ago in just the state of California alone, there was half as many teams playing in the league compared to Canada. A state that one would not think hockey has any sort of connection at all had exactly half as many teams within the league as Canada, the mecca for hockey. Now, having a team in the Toronto area would also cause some concern for other owners within the NHL, cough MLSE cough. They would not want to see their profits be taken away from them to go to another franchise. While in thought it makes too much sense, the NHL BoG just doesn’t see it that way clearly.

Now the word relocation has turned into a taboo word within the NHL. Franchises such as Arizona and Florida are literally and figuratively skating on thin ice as it is. Both gaining pitiful attendance numbers, one would have to wonder what it is exactly that could help those numbers grow, or is it even worth the effort. The Florida Panthers who are currently two points out of a playoff berth, still are having league wide low attendance numbers even against teams such as the Maple Leafs or Canadiens, who have some snowbirds living down south, still only getting numbers as high as 10,000 to a game. To put that into perspective, the Minnesota High School state championships have just recorded an attendance of higher than 20,000 people. High School sports are beating out playoff contention teams when it comes to attendance, and frankly that is a joke. While it doesn’t look to be in future plans, the NHL should seriously reconsider relocating Arizona, who is currently on a contract with a lease just for a few more years. The idea of the NHL returning to Quebec City, and an additional team in the Greater Toronto Area is becoming more and more closer to fruition.